NVIT BNY Mellon Core Plus Bond Fund

Summary Prospectus April 29, 2024

Class I / Class II / Class P / Class Y

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains information about the Fund and its risks. This Summary Prospectus is intended for use in connection with variable insurance contracts, and is not intended for use by other investors. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated April 29, 2024 (as may be supplemented or revised), are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. For free paper or electronic copies of the Fund’s Prospectus and other information about the Fund, go to nationwide.com/mutualfundsnvit, email a request to web_help@nationwide.com or call 800-848-0920, or ask any variable insurance contract provider who offers shares of the Fund as an underlying investment option in its products.

Objective

The NVIT BNY Mellon Core Plus Bond Fund seeks long-term total return, consistent with reasonable risk.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. Sales charges and other expenses that may be imposed by variable insurance contracts are not included. If these charges were reflected, the expenses listed below would be higher. See the variable insurance contract prospectus, which may impose sales charges and other additional contract-level expenses.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

	Class I Shares	Class II Shares	Class P Shares	Class Y Shares
Management Fees	0.44%	0.44%	0.44%	0.44%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	None	0.25%	0.25%	None
Other Expenses	0.20%	0.20%	0.05%	0.05%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	0.64%	0.89%	0.74%	0.49%
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement(1)	(0.01)%	(0.01)%	(0.01)%	(0.01)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	0.63%	0.88%	0.73%	0.48%

(1) Nationwide Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust”) and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the “Adviser”) have entered into a written contract waiving 0.0111% of the management fee to which the Adviser would otherwise be entitled until April 30, 2025. The written contract may be changed or eliminated only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust.

Example

This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example, however, does not include charges that are imposed by variable insurance contracts. If these charges were reflected, the expenses listed below would be higher.

This Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those time periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses, and any expense limitation or fee waivers that may apply for the periods indicated above under “Fees and Expenses.” Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class I Shares	$64	$204	$356	$797
Class II Shares	90	283	492	1,095
Class P Shares	75	236	410	917
Class Y Shares	49	156	273	615

NSP-CPB (4/24)

Summary Prospectus April 29, 2024

NVIT BNY Mellon Core Plus Bond Fund

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 30.83% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund is designed to provide a diversified portfolio of different types of fixed-income securities. In contrast to a typical core bond strategy, however, the Fund also invests a portion of its assets in fixed-income securities that carry higher risks, but which potentially offer higher investment rewards. The fixed-income securities in which the Fund invests include U.S. and foreign corporate bonds, U.S. government securities, bonds issued by foreign governments, corporate loans, asset-backed securities and mortgage-backed securities. The Fund may invest in securities issued by foreign issuers, including those that are located in emerging market countries, although the Fund does not invest more than 20% of its net assets in emerging market securities. Some foreign securities may be denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

The Fund invests in mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage-backed securities include either pass-through securities issued by U.S. government agencies, such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or collateralized mortgage obligations issued either by U.S. government agencies or by private issuers. The Fund may purchase many U.S. agency pass-through securities on a when-issued (also known as “to-be-announced”) basis, and it may also purchase or sell such securities for delayed delivery. When entering into such a transaction, the Fund buys or sells securities with payment and delivery scheduled to take place in the future.

The Fund normally invests primarily in fixed-income securities that are rated, at the time of purchase, investment grade or the unrated equivalent as determined by the Fund’s subadviser. The Fund may, however, invest up to 25% of its net assets at the time of purchase, in high-yield bonds (i.e., “junk bonds”). Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in fixed-income securities. Securities in which the Fund invests pay interest on either a fixed-rate or variable-rate basis.

The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing in securities offering the highest level of total return while simultaneously managing investment risk. The Fund’s portfolio can be expected to have an average effective duration ranging between three and eight years, although the Fund’s subadviser may lengthen or shorten the Fund’s portfolio duration outside this range depending on its evaluation of market conditions. Duration is an indication of an investment’s “interest rate risk,” or how sensitive an investment may be to changes in interest rates. Bonds with longer durations have higher risk and volatility.

In constructing the Fund’s portfolio, the subadviser relies primarily on proprietary, internally-generated credit research, focusing on both industry/sector analysis and detailed individual security selection. The subadviser seeks to identify investment opportunities based on the relative value of securities. The subadviser analyzes individual issuer credit risk based on factors such as management and depth of experience, competitive advantage, market and product position and overall financial strength. The Fund’s subadviser seeks value and may sell a security in anticipation of market declines or credit downgrades or to take advantage of more favorable opportunities.

Principal Risks

The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.

As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:

Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of fixed-income securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates are more likely to cause periods of increased volatility and redemptions, and will cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline significantly. Recently, the Federal Reserve Board has raised interest rates after a period of historic lows, and may increase rates further. The interest earned on the Fund's investments in fixed-income securities may decline when prevailing interest rates fall. Declines in interest rates increase the likelihood that debt obligations will be pre-paid, which, in turn, increases these risks. Very low or negative interest rates will impact the yield of the Fund's investments in fixed-income securities and increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund's performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments in fixed-income securities may not keep pace with inflation. Recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates.

Summary Prospectus April 29, 2024

NVIT BNY Mellon Core Plus Bond Fund

The interest rate of fixed-rate securities is fixed at the time of purchase and does not fluctuate with general market conditions. Floating-rate securities have interest rates that vary with changes to a specific measure, such as the Treasury bill rate. Variable-rate securities have interest rates that change at preset times based on changes on the specific measure.

Credit risk - a bond issuer will default if it is unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund will lose money. This risk is particularly high for high-yield bonds and other securities rated below investment grade. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness also affect the market price of a bond.

Market risk – the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. This occurs due to numerous factors, including interest rates, the outlook for corporate profits, the health of the national and world economies, and the fluctuation of other securities markets around the world. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the global economy.

Sector risk – investments in particular industries or sectors may be more volatile than the overall stock market. Therefore, if the Fund emphasizes one or more industries or economic sectors, it will be more susceptible to financial, market or economic events affecting the particular issuers and industries participating in such sectors than funds that do not emphasize particular industries or sectors.

Selection risk – the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Prepayment and call risk – certain bonds will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this happens, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.

Mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities risks – these securities generally are subject to the same types of risk that apply to other fixed-income securities, such as interest rate risk, credit risk, and prepayment and call risk. Mortgage-backed securities also are subject to extension risk, which is the risk that when interest rates rise, certain mortgage-backed securities will be paid in full by the issuer more slowly than anticipated. This can cause the market value of the security to fall because the market may view its interest rate as low for a longer-term investment. Through its investments in mortgage-backed securities, the Fund may have some exposure to subprime loans, as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Subprime loans, which are loans made to borrowers

with weakened credit histories, generally have higher default rates than loans that meet government underwriting requirements. The credit quality of most asset-backed securities depends primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such securities, how well the entity issuing the security is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit enhancement of the securities.

Collateralized mortgage obligations risk – collateralized mortgage obligations exhibit similar risks to those of mortgage-backed securities but also present certain special risks. Collateralized mortgage obligations are created by dividing the principal and interest payments collected on a pool of mortgages into several revenue streams (tranches) with different priority rights to portions of the underlying mortgage payments. Collateralized mortgage obligation tranches often are specially structured in a manner that provides a variety of investment characteristics, such as yield, effective maturity and interest rate sensitivity. As market conditions change, however, particularly during periods of rapid or unanticipated changes in interest rates, the ability of a collateralized mortgage obligation tranche to provide the anticipated investment characteristics and performance may be significantly reduced. These changes may result in volatility in the market value, and in some instances reduced liquidity, of the collateralized mortgage obligation tranche.

High-yield bonds risk – investing in high-yield bonds and other lower-rated bonds is considered speculative and may subject the Fund to substantial risk of loss due to issuer default, decline in market value due to adverse economic and business developments, or sensitivity to changing interest rates.

Corporate loans risk – commercial banks and other financial institutions or institutional investors make corporate loans to companies that need capital to grow or restructure. Borrowers generally pay interest on corporate loans at rates that change in response to changes in market interest rates or the prime rates of U.S. banks. The market for corporate loans may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads (difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for an asset and the lowest price that a seller is willing to accept for an asset) and extended trade settlement periods. Corporate loans have speculative characteristics and high risk, and often are referred to as “junk.” Furthermore, investments in corporate loans may not be considered “securities” for certain federal securities laws, and therefore the Fund may not be able to rely on the antifraud protections of the federal securities laws.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities often are more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities. The prices of foreign securities may be further affected by other factors, such as changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the securities are traded.

Summary Prospectus April 29, 2024

NVIT BNY Mellon Core Plus Bond Fund

Foreign currencies – foreign securities may be denominated or quoted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates affect the value of the Fund’s portfolio. Generally, when the U.S. dollar rises in value against a foreign currency, a security denominated in that currency loses value because the currency is worth fewer U.S. dollars. Conversely, when the U.S. dollar decreases in value against a foreign currency, a security denominated in that currency gains value because the currency is worth more U.S. dollars.

Emerging markets risk – emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets are considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging securities markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets. Since these markets are smaller than developed markets, they may be more likely to suffer sharp and frequent price changes or long-term price depression because of adverse publicity, investor perceptions or the actions of a few large investors. Practices in relation to settlement of securities transactions in emerging markets involve higher risks than those in developed markets, in part because the Fund will need to use brokers and counterparties that are less well capitalized, and custody and registration of assets in some countries are unreliable compared to developed markets. Companies in emerging market countries generally are subject to less stringent financial reporting, accounting and auditing standards than companies in more developed countries. In addition, information about such companies may be less available and reliable. Many emerging markets also have histories of political instability and abrupt changes in policies, and the ability to bring and enforce actions may be limited. Certain emerging markets also face other significant internal or external risks, including the risk of war, nationalization of assets, unexpected market closures and ethnic, religious and racial conflicts.

Delayed-delivery risk – the risk that the security the Fund buys will lose value prior to its delivery or that the seller will not meet its obligation. If this happens, the Fund will lose the investment opportunity for the assets it set aside to pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price.

Sovereign debt risk – sovereign debt instruments are subject to the risk that a governmental entity will delay or refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its sovereign debt due, for example, to cash flow problems, insufficient foreign currency reserves, political considerations, the relative size of the governmental entity’s debt position in relation to the economy or the failure to put in place economic reforms required by the International Monetary Fund or other multilateral agencies.

Liquidity risk – when there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities or instruments, it can become more difficult to sell the securities or instruments at or near

their perceived value. An inability to sell a portfolio position can adversely affect the Fund's value or prevent the Fund from being able to take advantage of other investment opportunities. Liquidity risk also includes the risk that the Fund will experience significant net redemptions of its shares at a time when it cannot find willing buyers for its portfolio securities or instruments or can sell its portfolio securities or instruments only at a material loss. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell other securities or instruments that are more liquid, but at unfavorable times and conditions. Investments in foreign securities and high-yield bonds tend to have more exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities and higher-rated bonds.

U.S. government securities risk – not all obligations of the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Some obligations are backed only by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality, and in some cases there is some risk of default by the issuer. Even if a security is backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States, such guarantee applies only to the timely payment of interest and principal. Neither the U.S. government nor its agencies guarantee the market value of their securities, and interest rate changes, prepayments and other factors will affect the value of U.S. government securities. It is possible that issuers of U.S. government securities will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future.

Redemptions risk – the Fund is an investment option for other mutual funds that are managed as “funds-of-funds.” As a result, from time to time, the Fund may experience relatively large redemptions or investments. Large or continuous redemptions may increase the Fund’s transaction costs and could cause the Fund’s operating expenses to be allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. If funds-of-funds or other large shareholders redeem large amounts of shares rapidly or unexpectedly, the Fund may have to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which could negatively impact the Fund’s net asset value and liquidity.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the volatility or variability of the Fund’s annual total returns over time and shows that Fund performance can change from year to year. The table shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for certain time periods compared to the returns of a comparable broad-based securities index. Remember, however, that past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The

Summary Prospectus April 29, 2024

NVIT BNY Mellon Core Plus Bond Fund

returns shown in the bar chart and table do not include charges that will be imposed by variable insurance contracts. If these amounts were reflected, returns would be less than those shown.

Effective September 7, 2021, Insight North America LLC became the Fund's subadviser. The performance shown prior to that date reflects returns pursuant to different principal investment strategies and a different subadviser. If the Fund's current strategies and subadviser had been in place for the prior periods, the performance information would have been different.

Annual Total Returns– Class Y Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	7.65%	–	4Q 2023
Lowest Quarter:	-6.45%	–	2Q 2022

The inception date for Class P shares is March 9, 2021. Pre-inception historical performance for Class P shares is based on the previous performance of Class Y shares. Performance for Class P shares has been adjusted to reflect that share class’s higher expenses than those of Class Y shares.

Average Annual Total Returns
(For the Periods Ended December 31, 2023)

	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class I Shares	7.40%	2.08%	2.14%
Class II Shares	7.17%	1.82%	1.90%
Class P Shares	7.36%	1.98%	2.04%
Class Y Shares	7.63%	2.23%	2.30%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses)	5.53%	1.10%	1.81%

Portfolio Management

Investment Adviser

Nationwide Fund Advisors

Subadviser

Insight North America LLC

Portfolio Managers

Portfolio Manager	Title	Length of Service with Fund
Brendan Murphy, CFA	Head of Core Fixed Income, North America	Since 2024
Scott Zaleski, CFA	Head of US Multi Sector Fixed Income	Since 2024
James DiChiaro	Senior Portfolio Manager	Since 2021

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions paid by the Fund to the insurance company separate accounts will consist of ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both. Because shares of the Fund must be purchased through separate accounts used to fund variable insurance contracts, such dividends and distributions will be exempt from current taxation by contract holders if left to accumulate within a separate account. Consult the variable insurance contract prospectus for additional tax information.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

This Fund is only offered as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts. The Fund and its related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance companies (or their affiliates) for distribution and/or other services, and to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries that distribute the variable insurance contracts. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the insurance companies to include the Fund as an underlying investment option in the variable insurance contracts, and by influencing the broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries to distribute variable insurance contracts that include the Fund as an underlying investment option over other variable insurance contracts or to otherwise recommend the selection of the Fund as an underlying investment option by contract owners instead of other funds that also may be available investment options. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract may contain additional information about these payments.

Summary Prospectus April 29, 2024

NVIT BNY Mellon Core Plus Bond Fund